1. Field of the Invention
Steel Boat Hull Salvaging Assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, in the salvaging of a sunken vessel, it has necessary for divers to descend and attempt to secure cables to the hull. The cables are subsequently tensioned to exert a sufficient upward force on the sunken vessel as to raise the latter to the ocean surface.
This prior art method of salvaging has numerous operational disadvantages. The prior art method requires numerous man-hours on the part of divers, which is extremely expensive, in that, but a small portion of this time is productive, for when the vessel being salvage is in deep water, a substantial portion of the diver's time is occupied in descending and ascending from a location adjacent the sunken vessel. In addition, the salvage operation is hazardous to divers, particularly where the divers are attempting to work at substantial depths.
In the prior art salvaging operations, the operation may be unsuccessful even if lifting cables are secured to the sunken hull, or the latter may have a substantial portion thereof embedded in the ocean floor and, in effect, anchored thereto. Under such conditions, when a strain is exerted on the lifting cables, the cables frequently break, or the cables separate from the sunken vessel.
A major object of the present invention is to provide an assembly of components that may be used with a salvage vessel to recover a sunken boat that has a steel hull, without the necessity of use of divers other than to locate the position of the sunken vessel on the ocean floor.
Another object of the invention is to permit the salvaging of sunken vessels without the attendant operational disadvantages above-described that are common to prior art salvaging methods.